Where were you on Jan.28,1986,when you learned that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded? For many of us,the tragedy still remains...
Burned into our memories
by David Teska
Every generation has its own moment in history, one particular to that place in time. Those who lived during the 1940s had Pearl harbor or the dropping of the first atomic bomb. The 1960s had the assassination of President John Kennedy and the first moon landing Due to their emotional connection and association with the period, people can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they learned of the event's occurrence, usually with amazing clarity and detail.
Those who came of age in the 1980s had the events of
their day too—the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War.
January 28,1986-10 years ago Sunday-was such a day.
Just more than a minute into its mission, the space shuttle Challenger suddenly exploded in a massive fireball, killing all seven astronauts on board. For NASA, the Challenger was the worst mission casualty the organization had experienced since January 27, 1967, when astronauts Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died In a fire during a launch simulation.
The Challenger explosion was NASA's worst case scenario—an inflight explosion that took the lives of the astronauts on board. Students and faculty have their own flashbulb memories of the accident. Siva Nadarajah, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, senior, remembered first learning of the accident while in junior high school in Kuala Lumpur. By that time, he'd already made up his mind to pursue a career in aerospace engineering, although it was a decision his parents weren't too excited about. "My parents thought it
"My parents thought it wouldn't be good for me," Nadarajah said, because of the low employment opportunities in Malaysia's aerospace industry at that time.
Siva Nedaralah
Doug Silcom
Nedarajah said that after hearing about the low temperatures the morning of the launch, he always h wondered why NASA decided to launch Challenger that day.
One passenger, Christa McAuliffe, a high school science teach from Concord, New Hampshire, had selected out of 11,000 applicants for a spot on the space shuttle to teach science from space, Nadarajah said.
- NASA later determined that o-rings, gaskets in the joints of the rocket boosters, were affected by cold temperatures.
David Downing, professor of aerospace engineering said having passengers like McAuliffe on shuttle missions wasn't appropriate due to the risks inherent in space flight.
"There is no way they can understand the risks they're undertaking," he said. Downing said he had just gotten out of class in Learned Hall when he first heard the news of the accident. As a former NASA employee, Downing said the accident hit close to home.
David Downing
"It's a very small fraternity of people," he said. "It's very difficult not to be prejudiced in their favor."
structured the events of the flight to try and determine the cause, as is done for any aircraft accident. NASA found that a combination of low temperatures and a high wind that caused localized freezing at the launch site were major factors. He said he also learned that there were other causes as well: political pressure to launch. He said that NASA was under considerable political pressure to maintain its launch schedule.
Downing said NASA recon-
"The space program was treated as a political football," Downing said.
Doug Malcom, O'Fallon, Ill., graduate student, was in gym class at Ames High School In Ames, Iowa. Soon after the accident, the principal and vice principal brought all of the students together to tell them the news. Malcom said the events had a haunting and solemn feel.
as an Air Force "brat," he had to live with the threat of losing his father, a fighter pilot who flew during the Vietnam War. Fortunately, Malcom's father returned home.
"I hit people like a shovel," he said. For Malcom, the news of an in-flight accident hit close to home. Growing up
Malcom said what surprised him most was that, after such a long string of success, NASA was hit with a disaster on such a surreal scale.
"We assumed that the astronauts would come back safely," he said.
6. Amy disaster, NASA has learned much
less about infirmity day.
A
The organization conducted an exhaustive review of the accident to determine what caused the Challenger explosion. Some of the reasons for the accident involved the extremely cold temperatures at the time of launch and how temperatures affected key shuttle communications.
The Challenger explosion marked a low point for both the tank and the space shuttle program. It also forced NASA seriously rethink its management of the space
"We had to learn the hard way, which is sad," Downing said.
shuttle program.
Prior to Challenger, there had been 24 successful launches. After Challenger, space shuttle launches were suspended until the December 1988 launch of Discovery.
Today, the shuttle program continues and has become the work horse of NASA's space flight program. To date, there have been 74 total shuttle launches, including Challenger.
Music topics
By Robert Moczydlowsky
1. 填空：
New Releases
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2 Minutes Hate Let It Eat (Ardent Records). Normally, there would be few good reasons to pay much attention to this disc. 2 Minutes Hate don't have a singular sound or a hot, catchy single. Nor do they have an interesting band history or a unique stage gimmick for their standard country rock (I saw them at the Replay Lunge on Tuesday night, and I could've sworn they were going to play Lynyrd Skynyrd covers for an encore).
No, what's worth noting about this disc is actually the disc itself. It's a CD-ROM, and it plays in your computer as well as your stereo. Slip it in your PowerMac or regular series Macintosh computer, and you get a full-screen music video and short, home video-style interviews from the band. Also included is the entire audio program and corresponding lyrics.
Other bands, such as Alice and Chains and the Rolling Stones, have released nonalbum CD-ROMs recently, but *Let It Eat* is the first to include the multimedia elements on the regular album disc for the regular album price. Let's hope that the major labels follow Ardent Records' lead into the multimedia arena. I'd love to see discs like this from legitimately talented bands.
Various Artists Dead Man Walking Motion Picture Soundtrack (Columbia). Movie soundtracks make me nervous. They often generate undue hype upon their release and then fade, almost routinely, into the $3.99 bin at the record store. I can't say that won't happen to the Dead Man Walking soundtrack, but based on the quality of the songs and artists on the album, it shouldn't.
Overall, out of ten: cd: 3. CD-ROM: 9.
The title track and disc opener is a great new solo acoustic song from Bruce Springsteen, and if you prefer country twang to rock n' roll ballads, there are better-than-average songs from Johnny Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle and Lyle Lovett. But the best songs on this disc belong to Eddie Vedder and Pakistani soul singer Nusrat Fateh Al Khan. Vedder's voice sounds tired, but he manages to harmonize with Ali Khan's lilting vocals in an oddly haunting way.
Overall: 8.
But a word of warning to Pearl Jam freaks and Eddie Vedder collectors: the songs *Face of Love* and The Long Road are way more Pakistan than Pearl Jam. Listen with an open mind.
The two remixes by British disc jockey Sonic Boom spin old Shallow tunes into great new grooves, and the four new songs show Shallow at their spontaneous and impromptu best.
Shallow cd laser lens cleaner (Zero Hour). This new e.p. contains six new songs from Kansas City's best band (outside of Tenderloin, of course), and it serves as further proof that the Lawrence/Kansas City music scene is an artistic force to be reckoned with.
Overall: 8.
Stabbing Westward Wither Blister Burn and Peel (Columbia). In 1989 Stabbing Westward released their first album, and it largely was ignored by the public. But it was one of many critics' Albums of the Year.
In short, buy this disc.
Now it's 1996, and these industrial rock wizards from Chicago have a new album that is bigger, bolder and more adventurous than the first. I'm confident that the first single, What Do I have To Do, will be played into the ground by the Lazer, so I see no reason to heap huge praise on the song now.
What I will land is Stabbing Westward's willingness to let a good guitar hook carry an otherwise computer-created track. Contrary to popular belief, there is no rule that says industrial music has to abandon catchy guitar riffs. If you like Filter, Die Cheerleader or Nitzer Ebb, take a listen to this disc and hear how easy it is for a talented guitarist to turn a good band into a great one.
Overall: 9.
Cultural topics
Tonight
MU 380 with Gal's Panic, 10 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. Cost: $3-$4.
Benito Bones and Friends, 10 p.m. at Full Moon Cafe, 803 Massachusetts St. Free.
Boogie Shoes, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus of Lawrence, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St. Cost: $3.
Son Volt with Bottlerockets, 10 p.m. Granada Theater, 1020 Massachusetts St. Sold out.
Tod on LSD, 9 p.m. at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. Second St.
Cost: $2.
Johnny Dyer, 9:30 p.m. at The Grand Emporium, 3832 Main,
Kansas City, Mo. Cost: $6.
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Tomorrow
Punkinhead, 10 p.m. at The Bottleneck. Cost: $4.
Uncle Dirty Toes. 10 p.m. at Full Moon Cafe, Free
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Boogie Shoes, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus of Lawrence. Cost:
$3.
Tod on LSD, 9 p.m. at Johnny's Tavern. Cost $2.
River City Review to benefit Seem-To-Be Players, 8 p.m. at Liberty Park #42 Massachusetts St. Cost: $10.
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Bonton, 9:30 p.m. at The Grand Emporium. Cost: $4.